Al Mouj Golf
Nearby Courses
1254 miles away
Dreamland
1689 miles away
Korineum
1722 miles away
Aphrodite Hills
In Britain and Ireland, the game flourished by the sea not just because the land was ideal for the creation and maintenance of a golf course but also because it was not deemed valuable by anyone else.
As a result of linksland being so readily available to golf pioneers in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Britain and Ireland's coastlines are relatively packed with courses.
In contrast, the reverse story is true in countries where golf developed later.
Even in the Algarve and Spain, where the game took off in the late 1960s, seaside sites were snapped up by hard-nosed real estate and hotel entrepreneurs rather than romantics eager to build another great golf course. This paucity of coastal drama is why water's edge holes such as those at the otherwise unremarkable Vale do Lobo are so revered and is one of the reasons why modern courses that do have seaside stretches, such as Estonia's Parnu Bay, catch the eye.
Further afield, there are even fewer opportunities to play by the coast. In the Middle East, for example, despite its hundreds of miles of sandy coastline, there are only a handful of chances.
It is a key reason Yas Links is so feted; it's not a links as British golfers expect, but its Gulf-side location makes it undeniably captivating. Fellow Abu Dhabi course Saadiyat Beach has some coastal holes and Al Zorah in Ajman has a unique (albeit brief) tidal element.
But for the most prolonged action by the sea in the region, you need to go to Oman. Yes, Oman.
There's more golf than you think in Oman. Much more. And its headline act is undoubtedly Al Mouj Golf, whose Gulf setting helps to explain why it overshadowed many well-known courses to finish hard on the heels of Yas in second place in our benchmark Middle East Top 25 ranking.
Al Mouj starts with an inland hole but thereafter you get regularly breathtaking views from tees, greens and fairways perched on the edge of the Gulf.
The jaw-dropping par-3 2nd plays directly down to it, and then the two-shot 3rd and short 4th play right alongside it. Even when Al Mouj then turns slightly inland, water awaits on the 6th, a par 5 where the lake on the right is never out of your mind.
That's also the case on the start to the back nine and then on the 363-yard par 4 13th and the gorgeous mid-length par 3 that follows it, those latter holes being cleverly laid out around another lake.
They are the appetiser for the tasty climax though, with the final four played hard to the gulf and the snaking 18th an all-world finisher.
These spectacular holes aren't the only reason for Al Mouj's appeal though. It is a Greg Norman design and this golfer's favourite course by the double Major champion.
Often on his courses it can feel as if he forgot not everyone can drive the ball as long and as straight as he could in his pomp (in fact, no-one in the whole world could, even in that glorious era of Faldo, Lyle, Woosnam et al - never mind us inconsistent mid-handicappers).
At Al Mouj though, his design lets you enjoy the scenery. It would have been a crime for it to be anything else, but crimes do happen on good sites. Here though, rarely are you so nervous and preoccupied over your shots that you can't lap up the setting before and after you've hit.
That's not to say it isn't a challenge. It's hosted the European Tour after all. But it gives you a chance to hit decent drives without devastating penalty, and around the green it is generally set up to promote successful recovery shots rather than dismiss them.
It seems obvious, but think about the last 10 'big' courses you played and there's every chance at least half of them seemed like they were desperate to penalise you.
Play vaguely well at Al Mouj, though, and you will get a lot back from it, and not just some Like-gathering pictures for Twitter or Instagram.
As a result of linksland being so readily available to golf pioneers in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Britain and Ireland's coastlines are relatively packed with courses.
In contrast, the reverse story is true in countries where golf developed later.
Even in the Algarve and Spain, where the game took off in the late 1960s, seaside sites were snapped up by hard-nosed real estate and hotel entrepreneurs rather than romantics eager to build another great golf course. This paucity of coastal drama is why water's edge holes such as those at the otherwise unremarkable Vale do Lobo are so revered and is one of the reasons why modern courses that do have seaside stretches, such as Estonia's Parnu Bay, catch the eye.
Further afield, there are even fewer opportunities to play by the coast. In the Middle East, for example, despite its hundreds of miles of sandy coastline, there are only a handful of chances.
It is a key reason Yas Links is so feted; it's not a links as British golfers expect, but its Gulf-side location makes it undeniably captivating. Fellow Abu Dhabi course Saadiyat Beach has some coastal holes and Al Zorah in Ajman has a unique (albeit brief) tidal element.
But for the most prolonged action by the sea in the region, you need to go to Oman. Yes, Oman.
There's more golf than you think in Oman. Much more. And its headline act is undoubtedly Al Mouj Golf, whose Gulf setting helps to explain why it overshadowed many well-known courses to finish hard on the heels of Yas in second place in our benchmark Middle East Top 25 ranking.
Al Mouj starts with an inland hole but thereafter you get regularly breathtaking views from tees, greens and fairways perched on the edge of the Gulf.
The jaw-dropping par-3 2nd plays directly down to it, and then the two-shot 3rd and short 4th play right alongside it. Even when Al Mouj then turns slightly inland, water awaits on the 6th, a par 5 where the lake on the right is never out of your mind.
That's also the case on the start to the back nine and then on the 363-yard par 4 13th and the gorgeous mid-length par 3 that follows it, those latter holes being cleverly laid out around another lake.
They are the appetiser for the tasty climax though, with the final four played hard to the gulf and the snaking 18th an all-world finisher.
These spectacular holes aren't the only reason for Al Mouj's appeal though. It is a Greg Norman design and this golfer's favourite course by the double Major champion.
Often on his courses it can feel as if he forgot not everyone can drive the ball as long and as straight as he could in his pomp (in fact, no-one in the whole world could, even in that glorious era of Faldo, Lyle, Woosnam et al - never mind us inconsistent mid-handicappers).
At Al Mouj though, his design lets you enjoy the scenery. It would have been a crime for it to be anything else, but crimes do happen on good sites. Here though, rarely are you so nervous and preoccupied over your shots that you can't lap up the setting before and after you've hit.
That's not to say it isn't a challenge. It's hosted the European Tour after all. But it gives you a chance to hit decent drives without devastating penalty, and around the green it is generally set up to promote successful recovery shots rather than dismiss them.
It seems obvious, but think about the last 10 'big' courses you played and there's every chance at least half of them seemed like they were desperate to penalise you.
Play vaguely well at Al Mouj, though, and you will get a lot back from it, and not just some Like-gathering pictures for Twitter or Instagram.